making an axe handle

My partner brought me an old axe head that she’d liberated from work and in true style I threw it in a tool box and forgot all about it. Finding it recently I thought it would make a good project. I used a piece of Willow for the handle, I’m sure that it not suitable at all but I wanted to practice cutting the shape and that was the only wood available.

I roughed out a blank on the shave horse with the draw knife then drew round an existing handle to get the shape. I then went back to the draw knife and roughed out the rest. The straight grain of the Willow was a great help. Other than some sanding to get a smooth finish it was all done on the shave horse with the draw knife.

With it being green wood, I then brought it in and placed it by the fire for a few days to dry it out. Next I cut a little notch in the top to take the wedge. With a little work with a knife I managed to get the shaft to fit into the head of the axe. (this was harder than it looked as the hole was irregular shape) I then drove an seasoned Oak wedge into the grove.

I was pleased with the shape of the handle but felt I made a bit of a mess with the wedge, I’d not cut the notch long enough I don’t think and the split did not seem central. A few weeks later the handle came loose, this time I used a larger wedge and that seems to have done the trick but I’m not trusting it yet!!